Cloned meat update

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Meat and milk from cloned animals may not appear in supermarkets for years despite being deemed by the government as safe to eat. But don't be surprised if "clone-free" labels appear sooner.

This is one of those things that sounds absolutely horrible. I mean, who wants to eat a cloned critter. It sounds like eating a science experiment.

However, I personally don't have a huge problem with the FDA saying it's safe to eat. It's their job to say "yes" or "no". Ethical decisions aren't their purview. If you or I don't want to eat cloned meat, fine, don't eat. I probably won't.

If this makes it cheaper to provide inexpensive, healthy protein to hungry people, that's good enough for me.

Unfortunately, because the FDA says the cloned meat is "indistinguishable" from non-cloned, it lacks the authority to force it to be labeled as "cloned."

I'm not crazy about that, but my guess is that every producer that doesn't use cloned critters will not waste any time putting a clone-free label on their packaging.

Here are a couple of bloggers I like and what they have to say about this:

I really dislike the idea of the FDA stating that the cloned food doesn't need to be labeled as such. Rightly or wrongly, there is a sizable segment of the population who will have misgivings about cloned food, and they have the right to not to eat the stuff. By avoiding labeling the product, the FDA has essentially said that "You're going to eat this food whether you like it or not".

Dale's Table:

If you have a different view, the FDA will be accepting comments from consumers over the next three months. Critics of cloning contend it has not been proven that cloned meat products are safe to eat over the long term.

(Yeah, I know, Reason is obviously going to be all free market-y, but the comments to this post are really funny)

The Ethicurean isn't crazy about the idea:

Why should we care? Well, according to the Center for Food Safetyâ€™s press release on the topic, cloned animals have much higher levels of antibiotics, and commonly suffer from defects such as intestinal blockages; diabetes; shortened tendons; deformed feet; weakened immune systems; dysfunctional hearts, brains, livers, and kidneys; respiratory distress; and circulatory problems.

The Washington Post, in an editorial today, says this was long overdue:

WHEN YOU TRY your first clonedog, you might not even notice. The Post's Rick Weiss reported Monday that the Food and Drug Administration is expected to vouch this week for the quality of meat and dairy products from cloned animals and their offspring. So far, ranchers and breeders have voluntarily kept food from such animals off of Americans' dining room tables. That will probably change soon.

A recent poll by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology indicates that a majority of Americans get queasy at the thought of clonal animal products lining supermarket shelves. But to its credit, the FDA stuck to the science -- the great bulk of which supports its reported conclusion.